Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41481984›Full record

ArticleSocial science & medicine (1982)2026

Striving and thriving: Gender differences in the effects of climbing the socioeconomic ladder on stress and discrimination.

Mitchell D Wong, Benjamin P L Meza, Bridget Callaghan, Jennifer A Silvers, A Janet Tomiyama, Kimberly Narain, Rebecca N Dudovitz

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Social science & medicine (1982), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Mitchell D WongDepartment of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, 90095, CA, United States. Electronic address: mitchellwong@mednet.ucla.edu.
Benjamin P L MezaDepartment of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, 90095, CA, United States.
Bridget CallaghanDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, 90095, CA, United States.
Jennifer A SilversDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, 90095, CA, United States.
A Janet TomiyamaDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, 90095, CA, United States.
Kimberly NarainDepartment of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, 90095, CA, United States.
Rebecca N DudovitzDepartment of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, 90095, CA, United States.

Funding

UCLA Clinical Translational Science InstituteUL1TR001881 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI ARLEEN F. BROWN, ARASH NAEIM · 2016 to 2026
$118.1M
Social networks and drug use among low-income students in high-performing schoolsR01DA033362 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI WONG, MITCHELL DAVID · 2012 to 2022
$5.9M
A natural experimental study of the impact of education on physiologic health, stress, and resilience and the role of socioemotional factors.R01AG082868 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI MITCHELL David WONG · 2023 to 2026
$2.0M
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR001881NIA NIH HHS R01 AG082868NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA033362
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRecent evidence suggests upward socioeconomic mobility ("striving") may result in worse physical health. It has been hypothesized that striving might result in greater stress and discrimination, but prior observational evidence of this has been mixed.

methodsWe analyzed data from The RISE UP study, a natural experimental study of 1270 low-income students in Los Angeles who were offered entrance to high-performing charter high schools via a random lottery. We compared lottery winners to those waitlisted, enabling objective assessment of striving with less confounding and selection bias. Self-reported stress using the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire and the Perceived Stress Scale and an abbreviated Everyday DiscriminationScale measuring lifetime discrimination were collected prospectively from adolescence into early adulthood.

resultsDuring adolescence, perceived psychologic stress was greater among lottery winners than among the waitlist group but only among the females with little difference among males. During early adulthood, females exposed to high performing schools continued to report greater stress compared to waitlisted females. In contrast, among males, lottery winners reported lower stress compared to waitlisted subjects during this age period. No differences in perceived discrimination were observed between lottery winners and waitlisted students regardless of gender.

conclusionsThese findings suggest that the process of upward mobility may incur psychological costs, particularly for females. The study highlights the need for further inquiry into mechanisms underlying gender disparities in the health effects of striving, and underscores the complex interplay between socioeconomic mobility, stress, discrimination, and health.

Indexed as

Social DiscriminationStress, PsychologicalAdolescentFemaleHumansLos AngelesMaleSex FactorsSocioeconomic FactorsStudentsSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID41481984
PMCPMC13322100

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.